What is the difference between audiation and ear training?

From my experience, most ear training instruction does not make the distinction between the ability to identify notes as they are sounded and being able to hear and identify notes in your head/mind without having them sounded.

This is a critical distinction as these are two very different tasks. Audiation focuses on the silent creation of sound/music while ear training seems to center around the perception and recognition of musical relationships. There are different sets of muscles and processes used to do each of these tasks. The practice methods employed to do them should reflect their differences.

Edwin Gordon is a music researcher, musician and teacher who I've stumbled across during a net search for "new teaching methods in music". It was while reading about his teaching methods that I learned of the term "audiation".

The following is lifted text from the Gordon Institute For Music Learning web site hosted by the University Of New Mexico.

http://www.unm.edu/~audiate/intro.htm

"Audiation is the foundation of musicianship. It takes place when we hear and comprehend music for which the sound is no longer or may never have been present. One may audiate when listening to music, performing from notation, playing "by ear," improvising, composing, or notating music."

People often ascribe the term "good ears" to someone who's a real great musician. I've always disliked the term and the way it's used. I think it should be something more like "good inner hearing”.... that doesn't sound quite as cool but its probably more accurate.

I wonder if neuroscientists have figured out which part of the brain is used to audiate?

I know that there have been studies conducted that look at which parts of the brain are in use when improvising and playing from memory versus performing from notation.